An evaluation of fatigue cracking in an aerial platform yoke from a fire-fighting vehicle

摘要

A case study of cracking in a heat-treated aluminum tubular yoke from an aerial fire-fighting platform is presented. An evaluation of the yoke was undertaken to assess its integrity that included a visual examination, photo documentation, metallurgical replication, chemical analysis, tensile testing and scanning electron microscopy. This paper reports the findings of this assessment and discusses the design issues associated with fatigue cracking at welded attachments in these types of components.